The Impossible Boy
by She Who Cannot Be Turned
Summary: Harry wandered alone as the Master of Death until that loneliness became too much. So Death, desperate to help his Master and give him some sort of companionship, arranged for Harry to meet another lonely man with an impossibly long lifespan. SLASH. 11/Harry
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Harry felt his knees try to give up on him as he lowered his wand, staring at the body of Lord Voldemort. He couldn't believe it was all over. After fighting for so long, he was a little disbelieving that it was finished. And if he was honest with himself, he wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do with himself now that he no longer had Voldemort looming over his shoulder.

Glancing around the Great Hall, he saw Aurors and Order members restraining the remaining Death Eaters, all of whom were too stunned at the death of their master to actually do anything. Harry tried to see if he could spot any of his friends, desperately hoping that they were all fine - though he was aware that the likelihood of that happening was slim to none. He could still remember the staring eyes of Fred.

"Harry!" Harry was jerked out of his morbid thoughts, hands clenching around the wands in his grasp, as he turned at the sound of his name being shouted. Hermione, Ron and Ginny were standing close to him, obviously not sure if they should touch him - which was a wise thing as Harry wasn't too sure he wouldn't have cursed them - but clearly wanting to.

Harry sighed and turned back to look at Voldemort before he pocketed both wands and turned fully to face his friends. "Are you all alright?" He asked them, concern shining through his voice as he looked at them, trying to discern any injuries they might have.

"We're fine! What about you! Harry, we thought you'd died!" Hermione exclaimed, apparently forgoing any thought that he might not appreciate being mauled in public and flinging her arms around him. Harry cautiously wrapped his arms around her waist, mentally wondering just what he was going to do now, the conversation he'd had with Death during his brief visit at Kings Cross ringing in his mind.

"Yeah, well, news of my death has been greatly exaggerated," Harry said weakly, voice muffled by Hermione's hair. Hermione pulled back and punched his shoulder, though she was smiling at him, clearly knowing the quote. Ginny and Ron, however, were both staring at them blankly, clearly wondering what they'd missed.

"Mate, you had me worried for a moment there!" Ron exclaimed, moving to stand next to him and Hermione, clapping a hand on his shoulder and smiling at him widely, relief evident on his face.

"Had myself worried for a minute there as well," Harry admitted with a weak smile, glancing over Hermione's shoulder to where Ginny was standing, staring at him with wide eyes that made him sigh silently. She had clearly not gotten over her hero worship - and subsequent crush - of him and he just knew it was going to get even worse now that he'd actually killed Voldemort. Not that he could have escaped doing so, it was his task after all.

* * *

 _Harry looked around him, feeling confused when he noticed that he was on platform nine and three quarters at Kings Cross Station. Glancing around to see if he was alone, he first noticed a small child like creature that looked like it had been flayed and abused, crouched and hiding underneath a chair alone and unwanted._

 _Harry unconsciously took a step away from the creature, a feeling of unease washing over him when he saw it. Whatever it was, he didn't want to go anywhere near it. Though a small part of him couldn't help but wonder what it was, and if there was anything he could do to help it._

 _"You can't help it." Harry would not admit that he jumped a good foot in the air before spinning around and seeing Albus Dumbledore standing there, watching him closely. Harry returned the favour and stared at the man equally as closely, narrowing his eyes a little at the man._

 _"You're not Dumbledore," Harry said before the other man could say anymore. The being masquerading as Dumbledore just smiled brightly at him and gave a nod of his head before the illusion shimmered away and Harry was left staring at a tall - very tall, at least a foot taller than even Ron, by Harry's estimation - man covered with a black cloak, leaving only his face visible. And his jet black eyes that had no white visible but seemed to have some blue visible at certain angles. "Who are you?"_

 _"I think you know the answer to that, don't you?"_

 _"Death."_

 _"Indeed. And your new servant."_

 _"What? No! That's not possible!" Harry exclaimed, staring at the man in front of him in shock. Why would this being claim Harry was his master?_

 _"You have read the story. You have collected the items. I assure you, it is very possible," Death told him calmly._

 _"I died! That's why I'm here!"_

 _"Yes. You died. And yes, that is why you are here. However, as my Master you will not stay dead. I will be sending you back soon. However, you have one task that will assure your place as my Master."_

 _"Oh?"_

 _"Yes, I task you to kill the one now known as Lord Voldemort and finally bring his soul to be judged. He has escaped my judgement for too long."_

 _"What if I don't want to be your master?"_

 _"Do not complete the task."_

 _"What? I never set out to be your master! I don't want to be anyone's master!"_

 _"Exactly. That is why you succeeded where so many have failed."_

 _"So I can only escape being your master by leaving Voldemort to live?"_

 _"Yes. He lives and you will die. This time forever. It is your choice."_

 _"There is no choice. I can't let him live. He would destroy all that I love if he were to survive," Harry said with a small shake of his head, glancing at the pitiful looking child out of the corner of his eye._

 _"Then you have made your decision."_

 _"Why would you want a master?"_

 _"Sometimes even Death gets lonely."_

* * *

The days and weeks following Voldemort's defeat were hectic and yet at the same time seemed to just flow into one another with nothing to distinguish them from other days. Harry had letters from everyone he knew and even more from those he didn't know. All asking something of him. As if he hadn't given enough up. As if he hadn't given them his life. His mortality.

He had holed himself up in Grimmauld Place, working with Kreacher to fix the damage caused by Death Eaters and generally just working together to make the place habitable once more. Kreacher had been a godsend for him, currently being the only living creature that knew of Harry's new status and the house elf actually worked to try and make Harry accept it. Not that it was working all too well right now.

"Master Harry, there's being a bird waiting for you with a letter," Kreacher interrupted his morose thoughts as he decorated the master bedroom of the house, making Harry turn to look at him blankly.

"A bird? Not an owl?" Harry asked, following Kreacher out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen. Or he assumed it would be the kitchen given they hadn't really gotten round to decorating the rest of the house yet.

"Yes, Master Harry." Absently, Harry assumed he would have to get used to being called Master, given that is what he was now. Well, unless he could somehow convince Death not to call him Master.

Harry soon understood why Kreacher had neglected from telling him the species of the bird as soon as he walked into the kitchen. There on the kitchen table was a brightly coloured bird with feathers of every colour Harry knew and more and a vicious looking beak and bright turquoise eyes looking at him warily. Harry cautiously approached the creature and tentatively took the letter tied to its leg, breathing a sigh of relief when the bird let him.

"Er… thanks," Harry said, motioning for Kreacher to place some raw sausage and water in front of the bird before turning his attention to the letter in his hands and smiling softly. He had been wondering when Luna would contact him.

Opening the lime green envelope and pulling out the sheet of bright pink parchment - and absently wondering where Luna got her brightly coloured parchment, he wouldn't mind replying to official ministry letters with purple parchment - to read what it was Luna had to say.

 _Dear Harry,_

 _I hope this letter finds you well! Though I imagine you are currently hiding inside Grimmauld Place, trying to avoid all the letters the Wizarding World keeps sending you._

 _My reason for sending this letter is just to inform you that me and my father are going travelling for the months before Hogwarts is ready to start again, we are hoping to find proof of the crumple-horned snorcack. I thought I would let you know that we are heading to Holland first, but I will tell you the coordinates of wherever we end up whenever we move on, should you wish to escape and join us! You know you will be welcome, and my father wishes to apologise for what he did._

 _I hope you know that whatever you are now and whatever changes you might have recently gone through will not change how I view you. You are one of my closest friends, Harry and that will never change, no matter what! Think about joining us, even if only for a break. We won't bother you with questions._

 _Lots of Love,_

 _Luna_

 _Xxx_

 _P.S - You'll find coloured parchment in the back room of the stationary shop in Diagon Alley between Quality Quidditch Supplies and Flourish and Blotts. Hope you find what you're looking for! Oh, and I'd suggest using bright orange for the Ministry. Purple has a different meaning to wizards than to muggles._

Harry smiled as he read the letter, not at all surprised that Luna seemed to know about him being Death's Master and also knowing what he was thinking even before he thought it. Though he did make a mental note to take a wander to the stationary shop and buy some parchment.

Luna's letter had made him feel a little better about things, much better than the letters he had received from Hermione, Ron and Ginny had made him feel at least. He was beginning to get fed up of letters reminding him that the war was over now - as though he had absent-mindedly forgotten about that - and so he could safely continue dating Ginny.

He really didn't need Kreacher _and_ Mrs Black telling him that he shouldn't have dated Ginny in the first place. If he was honest, and he regularly was with the portrait and the house elf, then he didn't really know why he had dated her in the first place. It wasn't like he was attracted to her in that way. She was a little too pushy and eager for his tastes. Plus she only saw him as The Boy Who Lived (forever and ever and ever apparently) and her hero. He really didn't want to spend the rest of his life with someone who seemingly worshipped him - he could see that getting boring fairly rapidly.

There was also the fact that she had apparently wanted to be Mrs Potter (or Lady Potter, though he wasn't sure she actually knew of the status of the Potters. Not many did) since she was old enough to understand such things. Which, to him, was just this side of creepy. He would essentially be dating his stalker.

Not that he'd ever say such a thing to any of the Weasleys. He loved them far too much to tell them what he thought of their little sister/daughter, plus he didn't think he'd get away with saying such a thing without being hexed to within an inch of his life. It would also be a little disrespectful of him. He only got away with saying such things to Mrs Black and Kreacher because they despised the Weasleys (it also had the added effect of getting them to like him a bit more).

So Luna's letter was a breath of fresh air and made him feel a little better about things. It also gave him something to do today, which in turn made him make up his mind about something he had been dithering over. He would be going to visit Neville today. Neville being the only one now that he hadn't heard from. Which was worrying him a little actually. Not that he expected Neville to send him a letter, it just would have been nice to know that he was doing alright after the events of the final battle.

Mind made up, Harry spun on the spot, letter still in hand and walked out of the kitchen to go and get his robes and possibly change his looks a little. He had made - with the aide of Kreacher - a potion that lengthened his hair a little, making it shoulder length and wavy, still as unruly as ever. Which would help hide him a little. His unmistakeable scar had faded dramatically since Voldemort's death and Harry had found that a little muggle concealer covered what little scarring was left. The final stage of changing his looks just enough to stop the regular wizard from recognising him was to quickly switch his glasses with contact lenses. He didn't quite trust the up and coming muggle surgery with lasers. He didn't want lasers near his eyes, thank you very much! And don't even get him started on the experimental potions going around the wizarding world. He was likely to end up blind.

With his looks suitably changed - no one that didn't really know him would recognise him - and changed into a comfortable dark green and grey robes (Harry Potter wear Slytherin colours? Never!), Harry was finally ready to leave the house for the first time in over a week.

"Kreacher! I'm heading out for a little while! I'm not sure when I'll be back, though I doubt I'll be long, you can just continue doing whatever it is you do while I'm not around! Have fun!" Harry called over his shoulder as he left the house, smiling at the muttering he could hear from Kreacher and closing the door behind him. Time to see what was going on in the wizarding world now that things were relatively more safe than they had been.

* * *

Harry walked down the path to the Longbottom family manor after he'd visited Diagon Alley - he'd brought parchment in several eye watering colours and looked forward to using them for his correspondences with the Ministry - and smiled to himself as he knocked on the door. The door was soon opened and a house elf wearing a neat pillow case with the Longbottom crest on it looked up at him expectantly.

"Oh, yes! Hello, is Neville in by any chance?" Harry asked with a smile, rocking on the balls of his feet.

"Master Neville is being in his greenhouse. Nippy will take you to him," the house elf, which Harry assumed was called Nippy, told him before stepping aside and letting Harry enter the house. The door closed behind him as he did, and then Harry quickly moved to follow Nippy as he was lead through the halls of Longbottom Manor towards, hopefully, where Neville could be found.

It wasn't long - thankfully, or Harry would begin to worry that he was being led to his death via mean house elf - before he was lead to a large and impressive greenhouse.

"Master is being in there," Nippy told him before popping away and leaving Harry alone in front of the greenhouse which, knowing Neville - and Harry did - contained several lethal man-eating plants. Herbology never was something Harry was good at, which made him nervous.

Harry anxiously looked at the door to the greenhouse before taking a deep breath and sliding it open, stepping inside. Immediately he was felt like he'd walked into a wall of heat and could feel sweat building up on his temples.

"Neville?" Harry called out walking deeper into the greenhouse and side stepping a plant that tried to curl around his neck. He was guessing it wasn't in a friendly manner. "Nev?"

"Harry?" Harry turned down a side path between tables to where he'd heard his name being called and smiled when he saw Neville sitting at a tall desk with a small, twitching plant in front of him.

"Nev! How are you doing?" Harry asked with a small smile on his face, walking over to stand next to Neville, who just smiled weakly back.

"Oh, you know. I'm fine. Plodding on. Have you heard from anyone?" Neville asked him, kicking out another chair for Harry to sit, which he did.

Harry then groaned at the question Neville had asked him, "heard from anyone? Try everyone. Including everyone in the Ministry who seem to even need my help to wipe their own arses. And the letters from my friends are even worse! I love them, but if they tell me that I should stop being shy and finally ask Ginny out now it's safe, then I think I may AK myself."

"Oh dear. And I guess Ginny is being even more… pushy?"

"I think she and Mrs Weasley are arranging the wedding as we speak."

"Ah. And you don't think of Ginny that way, I assume?" Neville asked, as calm and understanding as ever. Something Harry has always loved about Neville.

"Not really. Or at all. To be honest, I think I prefer men. Well, maybe not. I don't really mind what's on the outside, it's what's on the inside that counts. I just… I don't like Ginny in that way."

"To be fair, she's pretty rotten on the inside. No! Don't defend her, nothing we say here is going to get back to her anyway. What I meant, Harry, is that anyone with a brain can see she isn't for you. She only cares about the hero, not Just Harry. Me and Luna, we spoke whilst she was still at Hogwarts, about you and about Ginny. We both agreed that she would ruin you if you got together. She doesn't care about what you want or what you feel, she only wants to be Mrs Potter. And she'll do anything to become that. Don't let her wear you down, Harry. I think, of anyone in the world, you deserve to be happy now."

"Oh, Nev…" Harry could feel himself blushing at Neville's words, looking intently at the squirming plant on the desk instead of looking at his friend. "Why… why did you and Luna talk about me and Ginny?"

"You weren't at Hogwarts, but you may well of been given what Ginny would say whenever things were safe to speak openly. She would claim that you were engaged, but you were just waiting to announce it until it was safe. I'll be honest, some of what she said disturbed us a bit. She was very possessive of you, made sure people knew that they had no chance with you. She didn't want any competition."

"That's… kinda creepy."

"Yeah, well, even creepier is the way she would go on about Potters and red heads, and how it was only natural that you would take after your father. That she was just like Lily and it was fate."

"You're right. Even creepier. Ignoring the fact that my paternal grandmother had black hair, why would I marry someone who reminded me of my mother? Freud would have a field day with that kind of thing," Harry said with an exaggerated shudder.

"That's what I thought, though I didn't say anything just in case she was right, you know? You've been told what to do all your life, I figured if you really did like Ginny, why should I tell you not to do it. I just decided that I would be there for you and hope to negate whatever she did to you."

"Neville, you're kinda awesome, you know that?"

"Well, it wasn't just me. I mean, Luna thought it too. I imagine others thought it too. I don't really understand why Hermione is backing this. She is, right?"

"I think so. I haven't actually heard from her. She went to Australia a month ago to try and find her parents. No idea how it's gone, like I said, I haven't heard from her." Neville stared at Harry and frowned, looking confused.

"Harry, she came back two weeks ago. She's staying with the Weasleys. You mean, no one's told you this?"

"Apparently not. Wow. Not sure how to feel about that. Why wouldn't she tell me?" Harry asked, confused and so very hurt that his best friend seemed to be ignoring him.

"I don't know, Harry. I'd have thought she would be even closer to you after what you had gone through. Has anything changed?" Neville asked him and Harry felt cold for a second, even though he knew Neville wasn't talking about the Hallows. Though Hermione was bright and there was no chance she didn't hear what he had said to Voldemort before killing him. Though, even if she had put it all together and worked it out, it didn't explain why she was avoiding him. "Harry?"

"What? Oh, sorry. Just… a thought that struck me."

"Want to talk about it?" Did he? Did he trust Neville enough to not change how he saw him. To not be afraid of him.

Yes. He did.

"While I was… on the run. I found certain objects. Have you… when you were younger, did you ever hear the story about the three brothers and Death?"

"About the Deathly Hallows? Yeah, I've read it. What about it?"

"I found the Hallows. They're real. And… they accepted me as their master, Nev. Apparently I'm now the Master of Death," Harry muttered, reaching out to stroke a leaf of the small plant Neville had been nursing before he had got there.

"Should you be telling me this, Harry?"

"I dunno. I mean, I thought I could trust you. I can, right?"

"Of course you can, Harry. That's not what I meant. I just, I don't think this is something people need to know. Or should know. WHy are you telling me?"

"I trust you. And… I think Hermione has worked it out. I think that might be why she's hiding from me."

"Oh Harry. Even after Voldemort, you can't get a break, can you? So what are you going to do?"

"Do? Nothing. There's not much I can do. Death pretty much told me that himself. I don't think I'm going to age anymore, Nev. I think I'm trapped like this forever. I don't know how I'm going to be able to hide it for long."

"What did you want to do? You know, when you left Hogwarts. Did you have any idea of what you wanted to do?" Neville asked him, grinning when the little plant finally seemed to accept Harry's touch and curled a stem around his hand in a caress.

"I don't really know. I'm not that great at anything, I don't really have any skills. And well, now that I'm not going to age, there isn't many jobs that would accept me without wanting to cut me open to see how I work."

"You're wrong, you know. You have skills. You're amazing at Defence and well, I dunno if anyone ever told you but you were the second best at charms. Beat even Hermione. And there are charms that can make it look like you're ageing, if that's what is holding you back. But that's not really why I asked. Besides your inevitable thoughts that you owe the wizarding world something - you really don't, Harry - what is holding you here?"

"My friends."

"As one of those friends, I'm going to tell you to take off. As long as you keep in touch, and maybe visit every so often, I'll be happy as long as you are happy. Go travel, Harry. See the world. Relax. Get away from the expectations of a selfish world." Harry looked at Neville in shock, not quite sure what he was saying.

"What do you mean? You know, Luna told me that I was welcome to join her in her travels."

"Good! Go join her and when she returns for Hogwarts, you should just continue to travel. Don't come back, just keep going."

"Nev?"

Neville sighed and looked back at the plant that now looked like it was trying to become one with Harry's hand, smiling at little as Harry just delicately continued to play with it, almost absent-mindedly. "You know what the wizards of Britain are like, Harry. I'm scared. If they find out what you are, they'll try to control you. And if they can't control you, they'll try to kill you. Or lock you up."

"What?"

"Even before I knew about the Hallows, I worried about what the Ministry would do to keep you under their thumb. Me and Gran, we talked about it. I was going to get in touch with you soon, tell you to run. There are whispers, Harry. Certain people think you need to be controlled before you become the next Dark Lord. If they find out that you're Death's Master, they're going to hunt you down. If you've left the country before they work out a plan, then there's nothing they can do."

"You're telling me to leave? To run?"

"Sometimes running is the only thing you can do."

"I don't want to run. I feel like all I've done is run."

"Don't see it as running then. See it as grabbing your own freedom. Something you deserve."

"I don't want to be alone."

"You'll never be alone, Harry. Me and Luna will always be there for you."

"What about the Weasleys?"

"I dunno. I don't know them enough to tell you what they'd think, but if they haven't yet warned you or told you to run, then I don't think they have your best interests at heart," Neville told him gently, reaching out to grab Harry's free hand and squeezing it.

"So I just run?"

"Yeah. Close up all your houses. Make sure the goblins know and ask them to transfer at least half of your money into their muggle counterpart, then just find out where Luna is. Or go somewhere else. Oh, and don't forget to keep in touch, and to visit occasionally."

"If I'm on the run, how am I going to visit?"

"You're a wizard, Harry. It doesn't take much to change our looks. Besides, I told you, I spoke to my Gran about this."

"So?"

"Well, not many people know, but the Longbottoms branched out and left England. I don't really know many of the family that did leave, but we spoke to them. We decided that you can pose as my cousin from the Norwegian branch of the family. We'll give you a name to use when you're here visiting, now that it's safe and all," Neville added with a grin, getting a small chuckle from Harry.

"I don't speak Norwegian."

"So? No one else needs to know that. You don't have to accept the offer, just know that it's there."

"So… I guess I'm running then. Is there anything I can do for you before I sort things out and disappear?" Harry asked, finally gently detangling his hand from the little plant with a farewell stroke to its stalk.

"Two things. If you don't mind."

"Of course, you can ask me anything, Nev."

"It's just, you're the Master of Death and I maybe wondered if you could do something for me."

Harry sighed and nibbled on his lip anxiously, not wanting to let his friend down but worried as to what the request will be. "Nev, before you ask, you need to know that there are still restrictions even for me. I can't bring people back to life and I can't extend anyone's life. People have a deadline and everyone has to meet it."

"No, it's not that. It's just… it's my parents. Do you… do you think you could let them pass? I feel like, right now, they're trapped in their minds. Nothing the healers are doing is helping them get better, it's just prolonging their torture," Neville mumbled not looking at Harry as he asked.

"I can… I can talk to Death about it. Give me a week to get the answer, and then I'll find a way of letting you know. If he agrees, I'll also let you know when you should say goodbye," Harry paused and squeezed Neville's hand that was still in his. "Are you sure about this, Nev?"

"Yeah. I am. It's not fair but the healers won't listen to me. They think if my parents are relatively healthy, then they should be allowed to live. But… what if they're trapped in the minds and reliving that night over and over? No one knows. They've been through enough, I think… I think it's time to let them go."

"Okay then. I'll let you know when I've spoken to Death. What else did you want to ask me? You said two things."

"Oh, yes. That plant you were playing with. Take it with you. It's bonded to you, and it'll just wither and die if you leave it here. It's too young to be left by its bonded."

"What?"

"It's a plant designed to bond with a strong wizard, normally they are cultivated to plant into the boundaries of its bonded's home, to act as a defence against intruders. Though, it needs to be nurtured before it reaches that point. I was trying to bond with this one, but it looks like it chose you."

"Oh crap! Sorry, Neville! I didn't mean to!"

"It's alright, Harry. Really," Neville told him, looking amused as he picked up the little plant and handed it over to Harry, who took it and looked at it nervously.

"What do I do to look after it? I don't want to kill it!"

"You won't. It'll syphon off little bits of your excess magic. Just make sure you also water it every day. And when it gets to about six months old, it'll be strong enough to be left on whichever property you choose to plant it on. I'd recommend an old family plot as it'll still have residual family magics that it'll be able to use."

"Are you sure about this, Nev?"

"Very sure. It'll die without you. And don't worry, it won't grow much more until it's planted in the ground," Neville told him, standing up and stretching, wincing when his back popped a little, before he glanced at Harry, smiling when he saw that Harry was cooing at the plant.

"Should I name it?"

"If you really want to. It doesn't really matter if you don't though," Neville told him, quite amused at how Harry was treating the plant, he hadn't realised what he must look like with plants until now.

"No, it should have a name. I've always liked the name Dara. Which, apparently means oak tree, so it has something to live up to," Harry added with a grin, still looking at the little plant in his hands.

"Perfect name. Will you let me know before you leave? And keep in touch with me so I know you're safe?"

"Of course, I will, Nev. And I'll be in touch in about a weeks time anyway. Thank you, for everything, Nev. And tell your Gran thanks as well. Oh, and if you think it's wise, let her know what you know and what you've asked of me. I should be going now though. I only really came to make sure you were alright as I hadn't heard from you."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I just thought you'd want to be left alone for a while and decided to let you come to me when you were ready. Well, admittedly, you only had another week left before I would have finally hunted you down to tell you the plan."

"Well, thank you for that. And for Dara. I'll make sure he's safe."

"I know you will, Harry," Neville told him with a grin, leading Harry out of the greenhouses and back into the manor, taking Harry back to the front door.

"I'll be in touch, Nev. If anything comes up, or you need me, just let me know," Harry told him before grabbing Neville into a hug, clearly shocking the man before he returned it. Pulling apart, Harry grinned at him and then walked out the door with a wave over his shoulder.

"And you know where I am if you need me, Harry!"

* * *

Harry rushed into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place and made sure the floo was locked down to prevent any unwanted visitors, then placed Dara the plant on the table, patting the top leaf gently and running back into the hallway, skidding to a stop in front of Mrs Black.

"Harry."

"Mrs Black! I've found something out and well, I need to leave. But I need to make preparations first and I'm not too sure what to do."

"Well, first, tell me what you've found out and why you have to leave, then maybe Kreacher and I can help you."

"Right! The Ministry is trying to find a way to control me. A friend of mine told me to leave before that could happen as apparently the Ministry doesn't have my best interests in mind. So, I need to leave. Soon."

"So you need to lock down all properties and sort out your accounts in Gringotts. I suppose it's a good job you apologised for stealing from Gringotts, isn't it?" Mrs Black pointed out with amusement. Harry just sheepishly grinned at her, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't have known what to say to them to get in their good books without you telling me, so thanks for that. Do you know of anything else I should do?"

"Buy a tent? I good one. With at least two bedrooms in and a proper bathroom. And give those you trust a way to contact you."

"Any ideas on how to go about that? I don't have an owl, and it doesn't strike me as being safe anyway," Harry pointed out, getting a nod from Mrs Black.

"In the main Black vault, there should be several two way mirrors. You can make it so that more than two are connected to each other. The spell should be with them in the vault. Use them."

"Right. And I guess I could buy a couple of mobile phones and teach Nev and Luna how to use them. How do I lock down all my houses? I don't even know where all of them are."

"Kreacher knows where all the Black properties are and if you give him permission, he can find out about the Potter ones, then he can close them all down for you."

"Right. That seems easy enough. I guess I should contact Gringotts about transferring half my funds to their muggle bank. And I need to contact Death," Harry added, getting a sharp look from Mrs Black.

"Why would you need to do that?"

"A favour."

"Sounds like a dangerous favour. I know what you have to do to contact him."

"Yeah, I should probably ask him if there's another way around that. Right. Well, one thing at a time. Kreacher!"

"Master called?" Kreacher asked, popping in front of him with a low bow.

"Yeah, er… I give you permission to find out about all my properties. And when you do, do you think you could lock them down so only I can access them?"

"Kreacher will get it done, Master. Is that all?" Kreacher asked him, getting a nod from Harry before he popped away to hopefully carry out Harry's orders.

"Contact Gringotts before you contact Death."

"Right. Okay. Thank you for the help," Harry said, before he checked the time and deciding to go to Gringotts now as he had time before they closed. The sooner everything was sorted out, the sooner he could leave. He also made a mental note to contact Luna and find out where she is.

* * *

Harry nibbled on his lip anxiously as he made sure all precautions were in place before he made contact with Death. He had made sure that the house was locked down and wouldn't allow anyone access, he'd listened to Mrs Black try to convince him to not do it once again, and now he was ready to, well, to kill himself.

Stripping down to his underwear, Harry shakily climbed into the bath and grabbed the sharp knife he had brought in with him for this purpose. His hands shook as he placed the knife against his throat, deciding to that it would possibly be the quickest way to kill himself. And hopefully with the least amount of mess for them to clean up.

Taking a deep breath, Harry just decided to get on with it and with a quick movement, deeply sliced the knife across his throat. Harry choked and wheezed in a breath, spluttering on the amount of blood gushing out of the wound and had just enough time to decide to find another way to kill himself next time before he passed out.

* * *

 _Harry coughed and choked as he sat up and looked around him, half expecting to see Kings Cross station and only a little surprised that it wasn't. It was in fact a warm sitting room with large, comfortable looking chairs in dark green and brown. The whole room was in greys, greens and black, though still seeming warm to him. After looking around the room, he finally noticed that someone was sitting on one of the chairs. Cautiously standing up, Harry made his way over to the other chair and sat down before looking at the other man. A man that had thin, black hair that went just passed his shoulders, and white skin that looked like delicate paper. Harry took this in and then looked into the black and blue eyes._

 _"Death."_

 _"I assume you wanted to talk. Either that or you decided to test me."_

 _"Test you?"_

 _"Yes. See if I would keep you alive after you tried to take your life. Slitting your own throat, Master. That's quite the accomplishment. I don't know of many humans who would be able to do such a thing," Death told him, a small smirk twitching at his lips._

 _"Ah, well, in hindsight, it wasn't the greatest way I could have taken my life. But you were right the first time. I needed to talk to you and I couldn't think of another way to do it."_

 _"You only need call for me and I will come. You are my Master after all."_

 _"Yeah, about that. Think you could just call me Harry?"_

 _"As you wish. Now, what was it that you wished to speak to me about?" Death asked him, sitting back in his chair and staring at Harry unblinkingly._

 _"Right. You know of the Longbottoms? Frank and Alice to be specific?" Harry asked him, realising that it was probably pointless asking if Death knew of someone._

 _"I know them. What about them?"_

 _"Their son, Neville. He asked me if I could possibly end their suffering. I said I would ask you."_

 _"He wishes for them to pass over. Does he know what it is he is asking?"_

 _"Yeah, I made sure he knew. He thinks they have been forced to live long enough," Harry told him with a small shrug. He could sort of see where Neville was coming from, though he wasn't sure he could have done the same thing._

 _"It is not really our job to decide when people should or shouldn't die," Death pointed out calmly, getting a sigh from Harry._

 _"I know. But Neville is a friend, so I told him I would at least ask."_

 _"You are my master. I do as you wish. If the boy thinks his parents should pass on, then I will make it so. Would you like me to do so now or do you have a date?"_

 _"What is the date now?"_

 _"I believe for you it is June 13_ _th_ _, Harry."_

 _"Right. Do you think you could do it on the twentieth? That gives Neville a bit of time to accept things and say his goodbyes."_

 _"Then it shall be done. Is that all, Master?"_

 _"Harry. And yeah. Though, I'm going travelling to escape the wizarding world, don't know if I need to tell you that."_

 _"There is no need. I will always be able to find you now matter where or when you are. Remember, just call for me if you need me. I believe it is time for you to wake up, Harry."_

* * *

Harry gasped as he jerked awake, nose wrinkling in distaste at the sticky, congealed mess of blood that he was lying in and covered by. With a quick wave of his hand, the mess disappeared, though the coppery scent remained in the air. Another wave of his hand opened the bathroom window and Harry slumped back down in the bath.

He needed to send Neville a letter to tell him the date that his parents would die, which would be a weird letter to write for anyone. And he should probably send along the two-way mirror as well. He hadn't had a chance to look into mobile phones yet and was thinking of leaving it for a while. See if the mirror option worked for them.

Then he needed to buy his new tent, he should probably buy more clothes as well and possibly some supplies he might need, though he supposed he could get them anytime. Still, the goblins had told him that it would take them ten days to get everything sorted, including his passport and bank cards and anything else he might need.

So he had just over a week to sort everything out. And in that time, possibly visit the Weasleys and find out why Hermione was avoiding him. If all else failed, he could remove her memories of him being Master of Death. She wasn't the only one who knew the obliviate charm. Though Harry was hoping he wouldn't need it.

* * *

Five days later and Harry had everything he would need, he'd contacted both Luna and Neville, and they'd all tested out the mirrors, deciding they would work fine enough. Neville had also told him that he'd let his Gran know and she sent him her thanks. Though harry wasn't too sure why he was being thanked, but he supposed he hadn't been in that situation before. He just didn't see why anyone would thank someone for essentially killing their loved ones.

Right now though, he was standing on the edge of the wards covering the Burrow, trying to get the courage to pass them and see the people he had thought of as family. Though admittedly, after talking to Neville, Luna and Mrs Black, those feelings were starting to fade a little. He wasn't sure why they hadn't warned him of the rumours. Even if they were just that, it didn't mean they should be ignored.

Harry fidgeted a little where he stood, biting on his lip and wincing when he cut it with his teeth - he should try to break that habit - and then mentally calling himself a coward, he took a step past the ward line and forced himself to keep walking towards the Burrow.

Though when he got to the door, he suddenly lost all courage and couldn't bring himself to knock. Putting his hands in his pocket, he felt a jagged rock fall into his hands, pulling it out and smiling when he saw the resurrection stone. He had no idea how it had found its way into his pocket, he had left it on his dresser at Grimmauld Place after it had first found its way back to him, trying to work out a way to make a necklace of it. Still, seeing it now somehow gave him the courage he needed to knock on the door before he thrust it back into his pocket and waited for someone to answer.

The door opened and Harry didn't have time to say hello before he was being dragged into a tight, breath-stealing hug by Ginny, who had answered the door.

"Harry!" Her shriek, which was right in his ear and made him wince a little and worry about any possible damage that might have done, brought the attention of the rest of the household and soon the rest of the surviving Weasleys were there, clamouring for his attention. And in the centre was a nervous looking Hermione.

"I see you're back. Did you find your parents?" Harry asked her once he'd greeted all the Weasleys and had managed to detangle Ginny from around his neck. He had decided, before arriving, that he would play ignorant to Hermione's presence. Neville was staying behind after all, no need to make things awkward for him.

"Oh! Yes, I did! Thank you. How have you been?" Hermione asked him, sounding stilted even to his own ears. Harry just sighed quietly and smiled at her, deciding to just move past any hurt she was causing.

"I've been good. Just working on sorting things out, getting used to sleeping in one place for more than a week again, you know. What about you? Been up to much since you've gotten back?" Harry asked her, walking into the living room and taking a seat next to the sofa, deciding he didn't want to give Ginny a chance to sit next to him. She was being rather… grabby.

"Oh, you know, I have been getting ready to go back to Hogwarts and just relaxing really. Do you have any plans before Hogwarts starts up again?"

"Ah, well, I'm going to be travelling with Luna and her dad for a while. Looking for interesting magical creatures and such. Should be fun! I decided I needed to get away for a while, you know?" Harry told her, carefully leaving out the fact that he had no intention of returning when Luna did. If they knew that, then he'd never get out. He knew it.

"The Lovegoods, Harry? Really? Don't you think you should be spending time with me?" Ginny asked him, butting in on the conversation he was having with Hermione. Harry just sighed and gave her a slightly confused look. Well, he hoped it came across as confused and not looking at her like she was mental.

"Why would I need to be spending more time with you, Ginny? And Luna's a friend. Travelling with her sounds like fun."

"You know why you should be spending time with me!"

"Er… I really don't," Harry said, looking from Ginny to the rest of the Weasleys, who all looked either slightly uncomfortable or were frowning at him like they agreed with Ginny. Well, at least he knew who was on his side of this. Looks like only Bill, Fleur and Percy were in his court. The fact Ron and George seemed to be in the Harry and Ginny forever camp hurt but didn't shock him entirely.

"Surely you should be spending more time with your girlfriend than with another girl you barely know, Harry," Molly told him in a scolding tone, which made Harry unconsciously want to wince.

"I don't have a girlfriend, Molly."

"Oh don't be silly. Don't you think it's time you admitted you and Ginny are together?"

"No, because we're not. And we won't ever be. I don't see Ginny in that way," Harry told them firmly, frowning when it seemed to be on deaf ears.

"Harry! What are you saying?!" Ginny shrieked, standing up and glaring at him angrily. Harry just rolled his eyes and stood up himself so that he wasn't being loomed over by Ginny.

"Yeah, Harry? We all know you've been pining after Ginny! Why are you pretending otherwise?" Ron asked him, frowning at Harry, who just wanted to leave and forget the whole visit.

"What? Since when? Look, me and Ginny are never going to happen! She's the wrong gender!" Harry exclaimed, lying just a little but wanting to snuff out any hope of them getting together.

"Don't be silly! You and Ginny are perfect for one another!" Hermione told him and Harry sighed explosively, throwing his arms up into the air.

"Whatever. I know it's not going to happen and if Ginny wants to continue thinking it will, then it's her life wasted. Now, I'm going to leave and I'm sorry, but if you're just going to continue demanding I get with Ginny, then I'd rather you didn't contact me. I'll see you around," Harry told them, shrugging and shaking his head at the stunned looks that got him, before he pushed his way past Ginny and Mrs Weasley and left the house.

At least he wasn't going to be anywhere near them when they realised he wasn't going to go back to Hogwarts and was, in effect, disappearing forever. Now he just had to wait for his passport to be ready and he would be able to leave and not look back.

 **A/N – Okay, so I said I wouldn't post anything else until I'd finished Bitter Hug at least, but well I've been writing this on and off for the a couple of years now and thought I'd post the first chapter and see what people thought. It's going to be Eleven/Harry slash, so if you don't like that, please don't bother telling me, just don't read it, okay? Sorry for now acquiescing to the needs of absolutely every person on this site but they don't for me so turn abouts fair play, yeah? At least I gave a warning. If you don't read Author Notes, then bigger fool you. :D**

 **I've also started to write a oneshot Dr Who/Harry Potter crossover which may be posted soon enough and is a gen fic for those who get a bit twitchy when it comes to any kind of romantic pairing.**

 **So anyways, let me know what you think and if you'd like me to carry on with this! The Doctor will show up in the next chapter if anyones wondering.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

 **Fourteen years later**

Fourteen years of travelling the world, never staying in one place for longer than a month and making sure he knew exactly where the wizarding part of each country he visited was so that he could avoid it, and he always made sure to return to Britain at least once a year, normally for Christmas though occasionally for Neville or Luna's birthday.

At first he had always made sure to change his looks before coming to Britain, especially after the Ministry put out a warrant for him, claiming he was dangerous and needed to be locked away for his own safety as well as the safety of others. That news hadn't exactly shocked Harry, though he had been a little surprised at how soon after he had disappeared that it had been released. Still, in more recent years, Harry hasn't really had to change his looks at all. After all, the wizarding world were looking for thirty-odd year old looking Harry Potter, not an eighteen year old.

So Harry had always made sure that he kept in touch with Neville and Luna, visiting when he felt it was safe, or when something big was happening. Like Luna's wedding to a nice young man called Rolf Scamander and then later for the birth of her twin sons. Both of which had come as a surprise for both Neville and Harry, even more so when they were both asked to be godfathers for each of the boys.

After that, Harry had ensured that he visited for Christmas and Lorcan and Lysander's birthday, he didn't want to let them down like he had been forced to let Teddy down - Andromeda apparently believing the vitriol the Ministry had been spewing out about him and had taken Teddy into hiding.

He had also stayed in touch with Death, every so often calling the being to him to have a chat and not as often but on occasion running into trouble and unfortunately dying, which gave them even more opportunity to chat. During those times, Harry had occasionally felt the loneliness of outliving everyone he knew and had asked Death if he knew of anyone that was like him. Only a couple of times had Death told him of a few people. Though there was one person that Death had mentioned more than once. And he had told Harry that perhaps one day they would meet.

Which brought him to now. Back in Britain, having just visited the Scamanders for the twin's birthday and now he was taking a week break to the Peak District, as, if he was being honest, he missed England a little. He had decided to visit the quaint little villages and towns that were dotted around the large National Park and of course go rambling to take in the sites.

Harry had been walking along the edge of a lake, thinking about where he would be going next - Lysander had told him to go to New Zealand, but Harry had taken that advice with a pinch of salt given Lysander was currently obsessed with the place - and silently making plans as to whether he would stay a bit longer than a month this time. He was, if only admitting it to himself, getting a little fed up of never staying in one place longer than a month. He loved travelling but he was getting the point where he felt like he'd visited everywhere. Well, on planet earth.

It was during these thoughts that Harry heard a strange wheezing, whirring sound from behind him and he turned to find out what the noise was - because it wasn't anything he had ever heard of before - and was stunned to see a large blue box spinning towards him at great speeds. So fast in fact, that he didn't have time to move out of the way and was consequently hit by the box. Before everything went black, he had the last thought that it looked a little like the old police phone boxes you could still see dotted around England

* * *

 _Harry groaned as he came to in the regular green and black toned sitting room and saw an amused Death sitting in his usual chair in front of the fireplace in the room._

 _"What the hell just hit me? And come to think if it, what the bloody hell?!" Harry exclaimed, glaring when Death just chuckled at him and motioned for Harry to take a seat opposite him. "You know, if you wanted to talk, you could just come see me without killing me in confusing manners."_

 _"I know I can visit you whenever I wish to talk, this was not caused for that reason."_

 _"So you admit to causing it?!"_

 _"I did. The item you were just hit with is called a TARDIS. It stands for Time and Relative Dimension In Space and the being that was driving it is one of the ones I was telling you about. The one I thought you would be most interested in meeting."_

 _"What?!"_

 _"I told you I would take you to him, however I felt it would be easier to bring him to you."_

 _"So this is the immortal guy you told me about?"_

 _"No one other than ourselves are truly immortal, even Captain Harkness and the Doctor. However you asked to meet one with a seemingly immortal life and I brought him to you. I would have taken you to Captain Harkness but I fear you would have found the way around his apparent immortality the moment he first groped you."_

 _"You're bloody right I would have. So the guy who just killed me is The Doctor?"_

 _"Indeed."_

 _"Great way to first meet. Why now?"_

 _"I... In his linear timeline, I have just taken two people very dear to him. He is not coping with it very well and was about to go into exile. I rerouted his plans and brought him to you in hopes you could help him. You know how to deal with loss."_

 _"True but I don't think he's going to be impressed that it was my servant that took his friends."_

 _"I had no choice, it was their time. Help The Doctor, Harry. Help him to move past his guilt."_

 _"From all that you've told me about the man, I don't think he will ever get over his guilt. It's too heavy and large a burden."_

 _"Then help him carry it. It's time to go back."_

 _"Okay. And if you want to visit me, just pop up, don't set out to kill me again. It hurts."_

* * *

Harry felt the uncomfortable feeling of being revived once more, wincing as the sunlight hit his eyes even though they were closed. It took a few minutes to orientate himself before he heard the sound of someone sobbing quietly over his body. It was then that he realised the same someone was holding him close to their own body.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I bring death everywhere I go. I'm so so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Harry said before he could really think of a better way to let the man know he was alive. A result of this was the man gasping harshly and then pulling away from Harry which resulted in Harry's head banging on the floor causing him to groan in pain. "Ow."

"What? How? You were dead! I saw the gash on your head! No one could survive that!"

"That explains the headache. And it really wasn't your fault. It seems Death wanted us to meet," Harry told him, wincing as he carefully stood up and then turned to finally look at the man.

A man that was dressed in corduroy trousers, a plaid jacket and a red bow tie and suspenders. Harry blinked at the odd clothing then shook his head. Really, it was no weirder than what some wizards wore.

"You must-" Harry didn't have chance to finish what he was going to say because at that moment the man grabbed a hold of his arm and started tugging him towards the blue phone box, waving a strange metal wand at him as he did. "Er..."

"What are you? This says you're human but I know you died!" The man - The Doctor - exclaimed opening the door to the box which Harry assumed was the Tardis and pulling him inside.

As soon as Harry entered, he was overwhelmed by feelings that weren't his own washing over him. Feelings of amusement and greeting that made him gasp a little and look around him. The sensation reminded him of what he felt whenever he entered Hogwarts only it felt even older somehow.

Harry tuned out what the man was saying, though it seemed he had stopped waffling about impossible humans, and walked past him to the centre of the room where a large cylindrical post surrounded by a console of some sort stood. Looking up at the console, Harry reached forward and placed his hands on the pulsing cylinder, gasping happily as even more feelings washed through him, complete with what he could only describe as echoes of words.

" _Hello, Death's Master…_ "

"What are you doing?" Harry glanced at The Doctor, who had moved to stand next to him and was staring at him in confusion.

"Talking to your Tardis. She's rather cheerful, isn't she?" Harry asked, smiling widely as a teasing sensation washed over him.

"Is that it? Wait, you understand what she's saying? No one can do that! It's impossible!"

"Nothing's impossible. More so when I'm involved it would seem. So, this is the Tardis, huh? Gotta say, I'm impressed. She's lovely!" Harry grinned once more as the Doctor gaped at him and the Tardis sent waves of appreciation and joy through him.

"You... I..."

"Yep. I have that affect on people."

"Aren't you shocked that it's bigger on the inside?"

"To be honest, that's not new to me. I'm more shocked that I can feel what she's feeling. Only had that with one other building before. It's quite nice actually," Harry told him with a grin before finally removing his hands from the console and looking around him, chuckling at little at the eager look on the Doctor's face.

"You've seen something that's bigger on the inside?"

"You make it sound dirty," Harry said with a grin, which widened when the Doctor stated at him before blushing a little, "Ah relax, I was only joking. And in answer to your question, I'm a wizard, there's quite a few things that are bigger on the inside. My school trunk was for example."

"A wizard? Like Harry Potter?"

"I knew I should have changed the name in that book. Yeah, like Harry Potter. In fact, I _am_ Harry Potter."

"Are you really?! How did I not know you existed?! How did I not know _magic_ existed?!"

"Hmm. We're pretty good at hiding from those we don't want to find us. Plus our numbers are getting smaller by the decade. Chances are in years to come we'll be few and far between, if not extinct. Sad but true. It's the way of life. And Death," Harry added with a grin and a shrug, ignoring the slightly horrified look on the Doctor's face.

"How can you be so blasé about the death of your kind?"

"They haven't done much to ingratiate themselves to me. Many of them would rather see me imprisoned or dead than free and happy. In that world, if you have more power than they feel you should, then you can't be allowed to be free just in case you totally lose your mind and turn on them. Even if you did rid them of a Dark Lord. It's a fickle world and I've found I no longer care to be involved in it."

"You sound bitter."

"Oh no. They can do whatever they like as long as they realise that I'm no longer going to be around to bail them out. I've got my own life. I don't need them to live it. Live and let live I say," Harry told him with a shrug.

"Live and let live? And yet, you don't seem to care that your species is one day going to become extinct? This doesn't bother you at all?"

"All things must eventually come to an end. Sometimes you have to just let it happen. You should know this. You are the last of your kind after all, are you not, Doctor?" Harry said with a smirk, which widened when the Doctor stared at him in shock.

"How did you know that? Who are you? _What_ are you?" The Doctor demanded, making Harry roll his eyes.

"I told you who I am. I'm Harry Potter. Did you not read the books? I left the clues in there, though admittedly I changed things a little and for some reason my publisher made me write that annoying epilogue. Trust me, I did not marry that freaky stalker."

"What do you mean?"

"I left clues in there for anyone wondering why I disappeared. Dunno if anyone got them other than Luna, though I think she knew even before I published the books," Harry admitted with a shrug.

"I've read the books! I still don't know what you are!" The Doctor exclaimed, clearly not used to not knowing something, which made Harry grin at him.

"What did I collect? I changed some things that happened. It wasn't Dumbledore in Kings Cross for one and for another, certain items returned to me. I have them on me now, in fact," Harry told him, taking a step back when it looked like the Doctor was actually about to strip search him to find said items.

"So… either you're keeping hold of horcruxes or…" The Doctor gasped and then exclaimed happily, jumping about and pointing at Harry.

"I'm gathering you've worked it out… or you have some sort of illness that makes you act spastic," Harry added dryly, snickering when the Tardis sent him a feeling of great amusement. Clearly she agreed with him on that.

"I know! I know what you are! Though, if I'm right, it's a little scary," The Doctor admitted, looking at Harry warily, which made Harry sigh.

"Really? Why are you wary of me now? You've already brained me with your flying phone box!"

"I did say sorry. And are you really Death's Master?"

"You know, your Tardis reached that conclusion much faster than you did. And yes, I'm the Master of Death. Quite the pleasant fellow," Harry added, smiling as he thought of Death, who he strangely considered one of his closest friends.

"You… how… why?"

"Why? Why what? Why am I Master of Death? Because I was stupid enough to collect the Hallows and get accepted by them. Trust me, it's not out of choice. Well, technically it is."

"Technically?"

"Well… I was given a choice without a choice so to speak. If I didn't want to become Death's Master, then I should have let Voldemort kill me the second time. But as we all know, I couldn't let that happen. So, a choice without a choice. Simple," Harry explained with a shrug, hoping that he came across as uncaring as he wanted. That he wasn't still bothered - fourteen years on - about being the immortal Master of Death.

"Huh. Why didn't you write it as it happened then?"

"Because! I don't want every Tom, Dick and Draco coming after me for the Elder Wand. As it is, they all think it's in Dumbledore's Tomb behind the ever numerous wards of Hogwarts. And the wizarding world already wants to kill me for being powerful - plus they aren't too impressed that I published the books in the first place - let's not give them more rope to hang me with, ay?"

"So… you have the Hallows on you at all times?"

"Yep. I don't have a choice. They don't like being left alone. Why?"

The Doctor fidgeted a little, before edging closer to Harry - which made Harry eye him warily, he was trapped in a big blue box with the crazy man after all - and grinning widely at him, rocking on his feet. "Can I look at the invisibility cloak?"

"Er… sure. But if you run off wearing it, it'll stop working for you," Harry pointed out to him, before taking his long black trench coat off and handing it over to the Doctor with a grin, which widened when the Doctor slumped a little and looked at the coat in disappointment.

"Is this it?"

"You don't think I kept it looking like it's described in the books, do you? Death told me how to change it to look like a normal coat, and to not always make me go invisible. Just put it on and it should make you invisible. I'm letting it at least. It doesn't always listen to me though," Harry admitted with a rueful grin. The Doctor just stared from him to the coat in the his hands and then eagerly put the coat on, happily crowing in delight when he went invisible.

"This is incredible! Amazing! Look at me! Wait, you can't, I'm invisible!" Harry didn't want to tell the Doctor that, as the cloak's master, he knew where the man was at all times whilst wearing it.

"Yep. Well done. When you've finished prancing around in that, do you think I could leave?" Harry asked after the Doctor had run around the control room with the cloak on a couple of times. His question made the Doctor come to a halt as he tugged the cloak off and stared at Harry in shock.

"You… you want to leave?"

"Well… what else was I going to do? I mean, I don't have to, but I figured you only dragged me in here to find out what I was, and well, you've found out," Harry pointed out, confused and not sure why the Doctor looked quite so upset over Harry leaving. It wasn't like they really knew each other.

"I was wondering if, perhaps, you would like to travel with me! You see, I'm currently travelling alone and could do with another companion," the Doctor told him, smiling slightly with a look of hope on his face. Harry stared at him silently, thinking back to what Death had told him and wondering if this is what he meant.

"You don't do well being alone, do you? Well, I don't really have anything better to do, so I might as well join you! Could be fun! Death seems to think you get into more trouble than I do, so who knows what we'll get up to together!" Harry said with a grin, getting an even wider one from the Doctor, who ran over to the console and began pressing seemingly random buttons. "Wait!"

"What? What? I didn't do anything!"

"Yet. I do have stuff I need to collect before I up and leave. I need to go pack up my tent! Can't have any old muggle coming across it, can we?" Harry explained, rolling his eyes when the Doctor just stared at him. "Coming, Doctor, or are you just going to wait here until I get back?"

"Ooh! Coming! I want to see inside your tent!" The Doctor exclaimed excitedly, making Harry laugh at him and walk out of the Tardis.

"Well, I've seen inside yours, it's only fair," Harry drawled, smirking at the man and deliberately giving him the once over, enjoying flustering him.

"Stop that! Stop it!" Harry muttered an apology under his breath at the Doctor's exclamation, deciding to stop making the poor man uncomfortable even if it was amusing him.

"Come on then. I'm pitched up not far from here. Technically, I'm not supposed to be, but hey ho, who cares about silly little things like rules?" Harry asked as he walked in the direction he thought he'd pitched his tent. Well, he was nearly certain that was where he'd put his tent, but he'd actually been looking for it when he was taken out by the Tardis.

"Do you know where we're going?" The Doctor asked after they had been walking for about twenty minutes in a seemingly random direction.

"Possibly."

"So not exactly?"

"Well, not if you want to be pedantic about things. By the way, what's with the bow tie?" Harry asked, giving up on searching and pulling out his wand and murmuring a point me charm, being watched closely by the Doctor.

"Bow ties are cool!"

"Whoever told you that was lying. And cruel. Not sure what it says about you that you believed them though. You're over a thousand years old and you can't see when someone is lying to you about your bow tie?" Harry asked him, though he immediately regretted it when the Doctor looked at him with hurt and slowly took his bow tie off. "Oh, no. No, don't do that. If you like bow ties, don't let a miserable bastard like me tell you otherwise. Come on, put the tie on."

Harry sighed and winced when the Doctor just stared at him in confusion, clearly wondering if Harry was bipolar or something. Harry was wondering the same thing. And feeling bad for picking on someone who was already feeling pretty shitty.

"No one seems to like it," the Doctor muttered, looking at the tie in his hands, then looking up when Harry took it from his hands and wrapped it around his neck like a scarf.

"Points to you for even know how to tie the thing. And seriously, don't listen to me or anyone. If you like wearing something, just wear it. I mean, have you seen what I'm wearing? I wear a previously invisible trench coat that makes me look like a midgetty flasher. So, wear the tie, okay? You look cool," Harry added with a small grin, chuckling when the Doctor tugged at the bow tie now back around his neck.

"I don't think it's supposed to be worn like this," the Doctor told him with a wry grin, which just got a shrug and a wide grin from Harry.

"I think it looks snazzy. Which is much better than cool. And come on, my tent is this way!" Harry added with a wink as he walked in the direction of where his wand was pointing, looking over his shoulder and stopping when he noticed the Doctor wasn't following him. "You coming?"

"Oh, right. Yes. You think I look snazzy?" Harry chuckled and turned to fully face the Doctor.

"Amongst other things. You look very dashing, now come on, then we can get back to your delightful mistress, I have things I want to ask her!" Harry added with a mischievous smirk, which got him an anxious look from the Doctor, even as the man followed him.

"I do look dashing, don't I?" Harry chuckled and shook his head at the antics of the man following him, though he was quite aware now that even the smallest thing could push him over the edge. The man was mourning and he wasn't going the greatest of jobs of it. Not that Harry could say anything. He sucked at mourning.

Though given the amount of mourning he had in his future, he figured he had time to work on it.

Eventually they came across a small tent and Harry made a triumphant noise, punching the air with his fist. "Gotta love magic! Right then! Welcome to my humble abode, Doctor," Harry said with a swooping motion just before unzipping the flap and entering the tent.

Harry only had to wait a few seconds before the Doctor followed him inside and came to an abrupt stop, gaping as he looked around him at the living room of the tent.

"It's bigger on the inside," the Doctor paused for a moment and frowned, "Never thought I'd be one to say that."

"Magic doesn't really have any limits beyond what your imagination is limited to accept. I suppose the same could be said for certain types of Time Lord technology, am I right?"

"That's the second time you've implied that you know what I am. How do you know what I am? How do you know about me?"

"Master of Death here. Death knows everything there is to know about the ones whose souls he will be taking. Which is basically everyone. And what Death knows, I know. Therefore, I know all there is to know about you, Ras-" Harry was stopped from speaking as the Doctor lunged across the room and slapped his hand over Harry's mouth.

"No! We don't speak that name. We never speak that name!"

"A Doctor afraid of his own name. Man, the people I meet. I swear…" Harry muttered with a shake of his head. "Well! Ignoring your bizarre fear, I should pack up and then we can head back to the Tardis. Ooh, that reminds me, haven't you given her a name yet?"

"I… She… Yes! She's called the Tardis."

"Er… nope, that's like saying I'm called human and you're called Time Lord. Tardis is not her name. Come on! Give her a proper name, like Christine or Prescilla! Okay, maybe not those two names, but call her something!" Harry exclaimed, smiling when the Doctor looked at him strangely.

"You know, it's a very human thing, naming your mode of transportation," the Doctor pointed out, which just got him an unimpressed look from Harry.

"I find it very hard to believe that of all the billions of different beings out there, that humans are the only ones capable of caring for a basically inanimate object. Actually, I know it's not true because I knew a vampire with a mini copper called Clarence. Definitely not human. Sanguini would have issues with being called human."

"And you think I should name the Tardis?"

"I do. She loves you very much, you know. Even I could grasp that much even with the small amount of time I spent in her. And boy does that sentence sound creepy," Harry added, wrinkling his nose at the exact same time the Doctor did the same thing.

"Very creepy. And give me a little while and I'll come up with a name for her then, just for you."

"Ah, not for me! For her! And stop dawdling and help me pack!"

"What? Me? I don't pack," The Doctor said with a shake of his head, looking around him and then jumping when Harry threw a backpack at him.

"Well now you do. We all learn new skills all the time, deal with it," Harry told him, already moving into the bedroom of the tent, the Doctor following swiftly behind him. Harry just glanced at him and rolled his eyes when he saw that the Doctor was just looking around the room and occasionally picking items up, but not actually packing anything. "Change of plans! I'll pack and you just dither and be nosy."

"I like that plan," The Doctor told him with a cheeky grin, picking up his sneakoscope from the bedside cabinet and then putting it back down and opening the drawer.

"You have absolutely no concept of privacy, do you? For all you know, that could have been my personal naughty drawer. What would you have done then?" Harry asked with amusement, placing the last of his clothing into the backpack and turning to look at the Doctor, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Naughty drawer?"

"It's the next one down. Surely you know what that is, I refuse to accept that a man as old as you is as innocent as you seem," Harry said with a leer at the now furiously blushing man.

"I think I'll leave that drawer alone then," the Doctor muttered, closing the drawer he had opened rather quickly and spinning around to face Harry with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Probably for the best. Right! I'm all packed! Well, the things I might need without having to set up my tent again that is. So shall we head on out?"

"Okay! Any idea of where you might want to go when we get back to the Tardis?"

"Not a clue. Shall we let your mistress decide?"

* * *

After two months of travelling with the Doctor, during which Harry had been given his own room, had been taken on a tour of the Tardis by said Tardis and had found his favourite place to be on the floor below the main control room, where Harry found that his connection with the Tardis was the strongest. Plus he could amuse himself by listening to the cursing and muttering of the Doctor above him.

They had also travelled to places Harry had never even dreamed of. Sure, he knew that there was much more out there in the universe than Earth, he was the Master of Death, he knew of all lifeforms if he gave it some thought, but he had never really dreamt of visiting those places. Well, not yet. It was wonderful and Harry was so happy that he'd accepted the Doctor's offer to be his new companion.

Currently, Harry was once again sitting on what he had claimed as his spot. He'd even conjured a bean bag - with permission from the Tardis to do so - and had placed it with a sticking charm so that it didn't fly all over the place when she was feeling a little mischievous and took off the gravity. Or made travelling a little less comfortable than normal.

He was reading a book that he'd taken from the huge library that the Tardis had led him to, which was about the Time Lords and their technology - something he technically shouldn't even be able to read given it was written in Ancient Gallifreyan, but as he repeatedly told the Doctor, there was nothing Death didn't know. Admittedly knowing every language there ever was when he needed it had been quite a nice thing to learn at the time, but now he possibly just took it for granted. Hence reading a book about time lord technology. Though only the basics and Harry was beginning to suspect was for teeny tiny Time Babies. Or at least Academy students.

Probably a good thing as Harry wouldn't have had a clue what it was about if it had been advanced. Sure Death knew everything, but it didn't mean he actually _told_ Harry everything, Death had a sense of humour and it meant he was more amused by Harry's seemingly cursed relationship with technology. Something the Doctor had found out when he'd accidentally made his sonic screwdriver fall apart. Thankfully the Tardis fixed it pretty swiftly or Harry had the feeling he never would have heard the end of it.

"Harry? Harry?! Where are you?" Harry sighed as his peaceful moment was interrupted by Hurricane Time Lord heading his way. "Stop diverting me! You're my Tardis! Stop listening to him more than me!"

Harry chuckled as the Doctor argued with the Tardis, before he ran a hand down the wall of the Tardis, mentally telling her that it was fine for him to be found. Really, he quite liked the Doctor. More than liked actually, not that he was ever going to admit that.

"I'm down here, Doc. What's the problem?" Harry asked, standing up and placing the book on his bean bag before heading up to the mean control floor.

"Harry! There you are! Have you always been in here?" The Doctor asked him, looking around possibly for where Harry had been hiding.

"Er… yeah, pretty much. Down there," Harry pointed to where he'd been, the Doctor walking over and then looking at Harry in shock.

"Why is there a bean bag down there? What's wrong with the sitting room on the Tardis?"

"She let me! And the sitting room has moving chairs, what is that about?"

"It was boring. Anyway! That's not what I was looking for you for!"

"Oh? So what did you want?" Harry asked, leaning against the console and looking at the Doctor in interest. "Oh! And when can I drive her? She said it'd be fine for me to learn!"

"You broke my sonic screwdriver when I let you play with it, do you really think I'm going to let you drive the Tardis?"

"Oh come on! That is completely different! She's forgiven me!"

"Yes, well, she's inordinately fond of you for some reason. I've yet to forgive you. Well, maybe I've forgiven you a little but I haven't forgotten. Besides, you've only been with me for two months! You're still a newbie companion!" The Doctor pointed out, ignoring Harry's pout at his exclamation. "Anyway!"

"Oh right, yeah, you actually did want me for something, what's up?"

"I'm bored."

"You're bored? What did you want me to do about it? You sound like Lorcan and Lysander," Harry pointed out with a grin, which widened when the Doctor just pouted.

"I thought we could get to know one another some more seeing as we won't be going anywhere until the Tardis has fully refuelled," the Doctor said with a shrug and Harry wondered if there was an ulterior motive behind the get to know you.

"Right. Get to know you. Oh, by the way, we need to make sure that I don't miss Christmas 2012, my godsons really won't forgive me if I miss Christmas. And you get to meet my family!" Harry added with a wide grin, which faded a little when he took in the surprised expression on the Doctor's face.

"I get to meet them?"

"Well yeah! It's Christmas, and I'm not going to be leaving you alone for Christmas! Then we can spend Boxing Day with the Tardis! It'll be great! Luna will love you!" Harry exclaimed excitedly, even though in his mind Christmas wasn't for another month - though he did realise they could go to Christmas morning once the Tardis was finished refuelling. Still, he had asked the Doctor in the first week of living on the Tardis if they could keep things slightly linear when visiting his timeline as he left it.

"And I'm invited?"

"Well, I haven't asked them yet, but I don't see why not! I've never brought anyone along with me before but they're always telling me I should. You can be my plus one!"

"In that case, I suppose I can't say no, can I?" the Doctor said with a weaker than normal smile. Clearly Harry had thrown him for a loop with his invitation, which made Harry wonder just how many Christmases the Doctor had spent alone. Though he did suppose that Time Lord's didn't exactly celebrate Christmas given they weren't Christian. That thought then made him wonder if they _did_ celebrate something similar and what it was called.

"Good! I'll contact Luna sometime this week to make sure she knows! You're sure the mirror will work and won't contact her like a hundred years in the future, right?"

"Yes, the mirror should stay on the same linear timeline as you are. It won't register that we've gone into the future or the past. Don't worry."

"Okay then! So, I guess we should go and learn a bit more about one another, hmm? We can't have you bored all the time, after all, can we?" Harry said, looping his hand around the Doctor's arm and tugging him further into the Tardis. The Doctor only gave a moment of resistance before he gave up and followed behind Harry.

* * *

Harry clung onto the console of the Tardis as the Doctor flicked switches and pressed buttons, taking them to the coordinates Luna had given Harry over the mirror and hopefully to the right time. Though Harry had had a word with the Tardis, letting her know how important it was to him that they made it on time, so hopefully she would work with the Doctor for once. A thud and the Tardis coming to a stand still was Harry's clue that they'd arrived.

"Right! We're here! Where did we put the presents?" Harry asked, darting around the control room aimlessly before the Doctor grabbed his arm as he passed and pulled him to a stop.

"The presents are in your room. They'll love them. Stop panicking. It's me that's meeting people for the first time! In my experience, the family members of companions don't like me because I take them away!" The Doctor told him, panic rising in his almost visibly which calmed Harry down and made him smile, placing a hand on the Doctor's face and making him look at him.

"I've been travelling the world, never staying in one place longer than a month for over fourteen years. I was taken away from them long before you came along. Hell, they were the ones that told me to run. If anything, they'll love you because you've made it impossible for the Ministry to ever find me. So you should stop worrying too, help me find the presents and come meet my family. I promise, they'll love you. You're very hard not to like after all," Harry added with a light tap to the Doctor's face before he pulled away and went to search presents, grinning when he heard the Doctor following behind him.

"So who will be there?" the Doctor asked him as he grabbed the presents Harry had bought for Lorcan and Lysander and turned to face Harry, who was making a small pile of presents on his bed and hunting down a bag to place them in.

"Oh, you know, Luna, Rolf, Lorcan and Lysander, Neville and possibly his partner, Hannah, Luna's father, Xeno and maybe Neville's gran, Augusta. I think that's about it, really. No one else knows I'm still around, or even alive, so it's not safe to invite anyone else. Neville was dating Hannah for four years before she was told the truth," Harry told him with a shrug, before muttering under his breath and finally conjuring a bag to put the presents in. "Right! I'm ready to go! Let's go meet the family, shall we?"

Harry didn't wait for an answer from the Doctor before he grabbed the sack of presents and walked out of his room and to the control room of the Tardis, before he came to a stop and made sure the Doctor was still behind him. The Doctor, still carrying the gifts for Lorcan and Lysander, looked at him questioningly, wondering why he'd stopped.

"I feel a bit bad about leaving the Tardis alone," Harry admitted as he nibbled his lip, smiling weakly when the Doctor rolled his eyes and the Tardis sent him a wave of amusement and reassurance.

"She'll be fine. Come on, they'll start wondering where you are," the Doctor told him, walking over to nudge him out of the door. Harry just gave the wall a quick stroke before he walked out of the Tardis and smiled upon seeing that they were at the bottom of the Scamander's garden.

"Come on then! Let's get inside!" Harry said with a bright smile, leading the Doctor down the garden path and to Luna's house, walking around to the front and knocking on the door.

They only had to wait a couple of minutes before the door was opened and Harry was attacked by two tiny terrors, the Doctor thankfully steadying him and preventing him from falling over.

"Uncle Harry!" Harry grinned down at Lorcan and Lysander who were both clinging to a leg and chattering happily at him about who knows what.

"Hey guys, think we could come in?" Harry asked, getting their attention and thus bringing their attention to the Doctor.

"Who's he, Uncle Harry?' Lorcan, the quieter of the two twins, asked him, hiding behind Harry's leg and looking up at the Doctor, who smiled widely at them and balanced the presents on one hand so he could wave.

"Oh! This is my friend! I'm travelling with him. Let us inside and I'll introduce you properly!" Harry said, trying to urge the twins to let go so he could enter the house. It might not have been snowing, but it was bloody cold.

"Lorcan, Lysander, let Uncle Harry and the Doctor inside." Harry smiled at the dreamy sound of Luna's voice before she appeared at the door, smiling brightly at them all. "Come on, inside. We've got presents to open."

The magic word seemed to get their attention and the twins let go of Harry's legs and ran back inside. Harry gave a small sigh of relief and reached back to tug the Doctor behind him before walking inside. The door closing behind them once they'd both entered.

"Hey, Luna-Loo! How have you been?" Harry asked as she led them through the house and into the large family room where all the people Harry had mentioned were sitting, along with a surprise trio that Harry hadn't expected to see ever. "Er…"

"Everyone, this is Neville's cousin, Rafe and his erm… partner—"

"Theta," Harry interrupted, smiling awkwardly at the attention this brought him and the shocked look the Doctor gave him before he quickly blanked his face and waved silently at the staring mass.

"Right, this is Rafe and Theta. Rafe, Theta, you know my family and Neville's of course, the others are Ginny, Hermione and Ron Weasley. Ron works with Neville as an Auror," Luna added, silently telling Harry why they were there when they had never been at a Scamander/Longbottom Christmas ever.

"Hi everyone," Harry said with a weak smile, moving into the room and not letting go of the Doctor's sleeve.

"I didn't know you had a cousin, Neville," Hermione said, looking at Harry with narrow eyes which made Harry so happy he currently had green and blue hair courtesy of a visit to the seemingly endless party planet of Hulea and thus looked nothing like Harry Potter did when she last saw him.

"Yeah, there's a Longbottom branch of the family living in Norway. They got in touch with me after the war and Rafe has been visiting every Christmas," Neville told her, smiling widely at Harry and motioning him over. "I haven't met Theta yet though! Glad to finally be able to put a name to the face! I've heard a lot about you!"

"He's told me a lot about you as well. Nice to finally meet you all. Oh! And merry Christmas!" The Doctor added with a bright smile, finally putting the presents he was carrying down on the floor and sitting down next to Harry.

"Yes! Merry Christmas! How have your travels been?" Rolf asked eagerly, him and Luna had both been very interested in Harry's travelling around the universe and time, and both - at different times - had asked him to get them photos of dodos.

"Oh, you travel?" Hermione asked them, and Harry absently noted how Ginny and Ron were both silently sitting there watching him with some suspicion. He could guess why they were there. Probably seeing if they could find out where he, Harry, was.

"Oh yes, all over!" Harry said with a nod, looking at the Doctor and grinning widely at the mischievous look on the Doctor's face.

"Your hair is rather… unusual, isn't it?" Ginny asked, finally speaking up and sneering at him slightly, which amused Harry as he wondered what she would do if she knew who she was thinking less than pleasant things about.

"Oh yeah! This is due to a visit to a er… country during the party season. Everyone there had different hair colours and styles. Theta here refused to colour his hair orange. Though you did look good with a mohawk. Shame you changed it back," Harry added with a fake pout, which got him an equally fake glare from the Doctor.

"So you say! I like my hair how it is! You told me I look dashing like this!"

"I believe I said snazzy," Harry pointed out, grinning widely and noticing his family looking at him with pleased expressions on their face. Clearly happy that he was no longer as alone as he had been.

"I'm so happy you've finally found someone! I knew you would!" Luna told him dreamily, smirking when Harry blushed.

"Er… thanks. Actually, Luna, Nev, can I speak to you both in private for a moment?" Harry asked, standing up from his chair when they both nodded at him, before leaving he quickly turned to face the Doctor. "Be right back! Maybe you could give Lor and Ly their presents!"

"Okay! Presents are great, aren't they?" The Doctor asked the kids as soon as they crowed around him for their gift. Harry smiled and then followed Neville and Luna out into the hallway.

"So… two things. One, what are they doing here? And two, why did you say the Doctor was my partner?" Harry hissed as he threw up a quick silencing charm so they wouldn't be overheard.

"Well you want him to be your partner," Luna pointed out, and Neville chuckled when Harry sputtered and turned bright red at the insinuation.

"He doesn't need to know that! And stop getting your nargles to tell you my secrets! It's not fair!"

"Sorry, Harry. As for those three, I mentioned I was going to Luna's again for Christmas this year and they just turned up this morning without any warning. They're trying to find out what we know about where you are. It's no secret that you're the godfather of Lorcan and we haven't hid the fact that we have stayed in touch with you, but no one can do anything about it because we aren't harbouring you. Plus you haven't done anything illegal so they don't really have anything to pin on you," Neville added with a grin and a shrug.

"Why do they still want to find me? I don't get it. We didn't exactly part on friendly terms. And it was fourteen years ago, haven't they moved on?"

"Apparently not. Ginny is still under the delusion that you're waiting for the right time to come back and marry her," Luna told him with some amusement

"That woman is going to be single for the rest of her life. Right, well, let's not let them ruin Christmas. Plus we should get back and save the Doctor from any questioning Hermione might give him. She never could accept not knowing everything about everything," Harry said with a roll of his eyes, feeling a little bad for leaving the Doctor alone with her.

"She's only gotten worse since leaving Hogwarts. Let's go save the Doctor. By the way, I like him, Harry. You could do a lot worse," Neville told him, laughing at Harry's stammered denials as he walked back into the family room. Luna just patted Harry on the back before following. Harry gaped at them and the shook his head and muttered under his breath about busybody friends who needed to stay out of his business.

* * *

"So that was Ginny Weasley, huh? She came across slightly more sane in the books," the Doctor told him as they entered the Tardis, closing the door behind them.

"Yeah, she was nice enough at school, but I didn't really pay her any attention. When I wrote the books, I decided to keep my personal feelings out of it and just write her how I thought of her at that time. She's apparently only just gotten crazier as the years have passed," Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

"I do like Luna though," the Doctor added with a grin even as he started pressing buttons and pulling levers. Harry just rolled his eyes and moved to stand next to the Doctor.

"I did say that you would. So where are we headed now?"

"I thought we could go somewhere to bring in the new year!"

"Uh huh. Which new year?"

"How about the year four thousand? Some of the best celebrations around that year!" The Doctor told him excitedly, before he suddenly turned and pinned Harry with a narrow eyed stare. "One question before we arrive."

"Oh?"

"How did you know about the name Theta? And why introduce me with it?"

"That's two questions," Harry pointed out, before sighing when the Doctor just looked at him pointedly. "Fine, I know everything about you, remember? That includes past nicknames. And if I'd introduced you as the Doctor, then Hermione would have left and looked you up. And let's be honest, there's quite a bit out there about you to be found. So… yeah, that's why. That a good enough reason?"

"I suppose. You really know everything about me? Everything?"

"Pretty much. There's really nothing you can hide from me as I'll just find out, Death will tell me if I really need to know, and he's already told me so much about you, even before we met."

"Why?"

"I'm immortal. It gets lonely. And occasionally I would ask Death if there was anyone out there that had a seemingly immortal life. He told me about you. About how lonely you were even though you had companions a lot of the time, about how you made a difficult decision that no one should ever have to make and yet still carried on. And he told me how much you love the human race, how you always return to earth no matter when you are or what you're doing. He brought you to me because he felt bad for taking Amy and Rory away from you, even though it was their time, and because he worried about what you would do if left alone. And I think he worried about me as well," Harry added quietly with a small shrug.

"You? Why was he worried about you?"

"I may have gone bungee-jumping without the rope. And possibly tried to end my life a few more times as well. I think I lost my way and he wanted to show me a new path. He thinks we can save each other," Harry told him with a small, sad smile.

"He… he's sorry about Rory and Amy?"

"Yeah, he is. I think that's why you haven't met him yet. He normally visits me at least once a month, yet he's kept away. It might be our job to ferry the souls on to the next great adventure and what not, but it doesn't mean we aren't thankful for all the souls you saved from ending too soon. You're the last Time Lord, and he's always got a soft spot for one of a kinds."

"Death… likes me?"

"Yep. Don't get me wrong, he didn't particularly like the Time Lord race for their ability to cheat death with each regeneration, but he's always liked you because of the good you've done."

"And he wants us to save each other?"

"Neither of us really needs saving, he wants us to help each other stay sane," Harry told him matter of factly, before grinning and leaning over to pull down a lever.

"Hey! You! No! No driving her!"

"Too late!" Harry said with a cackle, laughing loudly as the TARDIS spun away through the time vortex, taking them who knows where.

 **A/N - So sorry it has taken me so long to get this posted! I don't really have much of an excuse other than real life! Though I had actually intended to get this posted around Christmas as a present (and the next chapter of Bitter Hug) but that all went tits up when I got a stomach virus on Christmas Eve. It was an awesome early present, let me tell you. Heh. So yeah, I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped, hence everything being late. I didn't get better until just before new years and just in time for my holiday (to Iceland, it was amazing!) and given my shitty immune system, of course I got ill on the way back. *Head desk* Seriously. So finally I'm better! And I'm finally getting around to posting this! I'm making no promises on when the next chapter will be up but hopefully it won't be as long. Though given my etsy shop seems to be popular recently, I may be busier than usual. Fingers crossed. I just bought a puppy, I need the money (he's a basset hound/cocker spaniel cross and is the most adorable thing I've ever seen. Hence me, a cat person who only ever considered getting another border collie if I ever got another dog, buying him. He's coming home with me tomorrow! He's so cute!)**

 ***Coughs* Right, so anywho, new chapter and I did say the Doctor would be in it! Actually, I kinda had a different chapter planned that was set in the years between this chapter and the last when Harry and the Doctor crossed paths but never actually met, but I got writers block on it so decided I'd write them separately and just post them as mini oneshot extras for this. Didn't really help the wait though… *sigh***

 **So I hope you liked this chapter! Let me know what you thought (You know, if you liked it. If you didn't um… lie? XD) And I'll make a start on the next chapter! Oh! And for those wondering, hopefully it won't be too long a wait for the next chapter of Bitter Hug either. It's nearly finished, just need to find the time (i.e. Escape my psychotic baby niece by going to Costa and actually end up playing Pokemon Go because it's right next to a Gym. Yeah… I have my priorities sorted.)**


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